Communities Within Communities

Hello Families! I am anxiously watching the Patriots game as I write this post. I still believe in Tom Brady but I can't believe all of the penalty calls. Team work and community building is the key.

Speaking of communities, our Room 14 community has been very busy over the last two weeks learning about rural, suburban and urban communities. They are experts now and are learning about goods and services, service workers and government. Our community field trip permission slip went home on Friday. Please return it as soon as possible. Everyone who is interested in chaperoning is invited to come along that day so please sign the chaperone sheet as well. I will remind you all before the field trip about the disposable nut free lunch. The date is Thursday, October 23 and we will be visiting the police station, fire station, town hall and cable studio. The children are quite excited about it and it is a fun day.

Our Grade 2 community has begun working in the second chapter of our Math program. The chapter focus is on adding to 1000 with and without regrouping. The children will continue to work on place value throughout this chapter as well. They need to carefully line-up their problems vertically for accuracy. This precision is important and their understanding of place value will validate that. Please refer to Math Infocus parent letters on Edline.

The focus of Unit 3 in Fundations will be the Closed Syllable Exception. The spelling of these exceptions are: ild, old, ost, ind and olt. The result of this Closed Syllable Exception is a long vowel sound. New trick words will come home on Tuesday and this unit will last only ONE week. So, there will be another Dictation assessment on Friday. Our first Dictation went very well!

In writing, your children continue to work on narrative writing. Ask them about the watermelon and the seed. The watermelon is the big picture (attending a birthday party) and the seed is the small moment (playing in the bouncy house). We are working on details, capitals and end marks. I have read some very interesting pieces and we have many good writers all ready this year. I am very proud of them.

Room parents for our class community are Mrs. Daly (Liam's mom) and Mrs. Tittemore (Molly's) mom. They may be emailing or calling about supplies, goodies and  volunteers for our Halloween Celebration on Friday, October 31. Our activities will be happening from 9-11AM. Please consider helping out that day. I will need 4-5 volunteers to run centers (crafts). Thank you in advance for generous donations and your time.

Lastly, kuddos to Abby for doing such a great job as our first STAR STUDENT of the Week. She was really cute, talented and handled herself with confidence. Our class community is looking forward to hearing from our STAR this week; Sofia.

Have a great week everyone. Remember to send in the permission slip and sign up as a chaperone to join us.

Off And Running

Hello families! I hope you enjoyed your weekend and the first day of fall. I was up in Maine for the weekend enjoying time with friends as well as some quiet time. Congrats to the Pats for another win today. They really keep us on our toes.

These last couple of weeks the kiddos have become more comfortable with their new surrounding, new friends and the captain of the ship (me). We are well on our way towards a happy and productive year. All areas of the curriculum are up and running. Though at times some areas need to be fine tuned, we are collaborating, sharing and learning from each other. I will post some pictures at the end of this post that show our class engaged in learning partnerships.

This week we will continue in Chapter 1 of our InFocus math program. Our lessons so far have been focused around numbers to 1,000 introducing standard number form, the written number form and the expanded number form. Next the children reviewed greater than and less than (>,<) with Ali Alligator. Finally, the emphasis will be identifying patterns in numbers. In these lessons, the children will learn to use numberlines and number grids to determine if a pattern is counting by 2s, 3s, 5s, 10s or 100s pattern. They will learn strategies to fill in missing numbers to these patterns. A final assessment to this chapter will be a week from Monday (Sept. 29).

We will begin Unit 2 in the Fundation's phonics program. This lesson reviews the glued sounds of: ang, ank, ing, ink, ong, onk, ung, unk and the bonus letters of f, l, s. There will be second grade trick words this week as well. The words will come home on Tuesday. This unit will be assessed a week from Friday (Oct.3). Most units last 2-3 weeks. The children will be bringing home their Unit 1 assessments. Please review this with them and used the attached pyramid to practice the missed trick words from the test.

All children enjoy writing about themselves and what they do. This information is very familiar to them and easy to access. We are focusing on "small moments" in our lives (a seed inside a watermelon analogy). Narrative writing will be developed and refined over the first term.

Clear your calendar and stay tuned for more information to follow about our Community field trip on Thursday, October 23. All second graders will be walking downtown to visit the police station, fire station, town hall and cable studio. Chaperones will be needed so watch for the field trip letter to be coming home later this week. We need lots so please try to join us. This field trip is a culmination of work already begun on communities. Ask your child if he/she knows what a community is? The study of communities involves rural, suburban and urban areas, governement, goods, services, and workers. The childern will be completing a research project on a community worker with a partner and produce a project in the media lab with the assistance of our Media specialist Mrs. Adamo.

Finally, our kiddos are reading up a storm. They have been learning to choose "good-fit" books so important to reading.  As they READ TO SELF they are working to build stamina each day. Last week they began READ TO SOMEONE. Each asked a buddy to read with them sharing a good story together. Read To Self and Read To Someone are part of the DAILY 5/CAFE that I spoke about at open house. If you want more information you can access the website thedailycafe.com. All grade 2 teachers will begin their bench mark assessments this week and RazKids will be updated soon.

Thank you for your continued understanding of the technology issues. Technology is a wonderful thing when all goes well. Please know that any practice you do for spelling, math and reading is very vital to your child's sustained growth and learning. I applaud you for your efforts.

Enjoy the following pics! Have a great week.

Welcome To Second Grade Another Year of Growing and Learning

     Welcome to Room 14. I am happy to get to know some new families this year but I am so excited to see many familiar faces. We are all off to a great start! YAY! Thank you for sending your kiddos so well prepared. It is very appreciated.

     This is my class blog. I write information here to clarify curriculum, give heads up on projects and post pics of the kiddos doing interesting activities. I would be very pleased if families would read the blog (check every other week). I can see the numbers of views so if it is read I will gladly continue to POST. At times I may post personal items like my number two son, Tony, getting engaged this summer. I have two boys. Tony is 28 and Ken is 32. I have beautiful daughter-in-law Ari and a soon to be just as beautiful Sara. Let's not forget my kitty, Betty and my husband Rick.

      I think that does it for now. I will update next week after OPen House with curriculum updates. Enjoy the last few days of summer!

Excitment at The Peabody Museum

The Second Graders had a wonderful day at the Peabody Museum at Harvard University. There was so much to see and explore. The exhibits are wonderfully done and the instructors informative. Thank you to all who volunteered to chaperon that day. I hope you enjoyed the day and the museum. It is a fabulous place and a great place for a family visit in the future. Here are a few pictures from the day:

The Native American Projects are due Monday. I hope you had a great time working on them. I can't wait to see and hear about them. Everyone has been so excited. Thank you for your understanding with the delay. I will try to get as many completed tomorrow and the rest will present on Tuesday. Second graders will be assessed on the Native American unit this week. Our next big topic will be Weights and Balancing our first Science unit.

 

Don't forget Tuesday is Super Speller Slipper Day. New trick words will be introduced that day. Unit 10 begins our study of vowel teams. The first being ai and ay in words like day, play, spray, sway, pain, train and grain.In math, we continue to focus on mental math strategies of addition and subtraction.

Report cards for term 2 will be released soon. Grades close this Friday and report cards will be released the following Friday. Your children are hard workers and preserve which is a wonderful trait. Encourage them to continue showing "grit" and putting their best foot forward at all times. They can do it.

Have a great week! It will be great to have longer days! I am looking forward to driving home in daylight!

Back To Business!

I hope everyone had a pleasant week off. The weather was up and down but hopefully the kiddos got out to get some fresh air. I can't wait for the temperature to stay above freezing so we can get back to outdoor recess. It looks this week we are back into the chill. It is New England friends. We do the best we can. At least the sun will be up longer and we spring ahead in a couple of weeks.

Second graders will begin working on Chapter 10 in the InFocus program. It's focus is on mental math strategies and real world problems. Please keep the kiddos practicing math facts and playing math games whenever possible. Use questioning to help them solve real life problems and figure out how many, how much, in all, less etc.. Math is all around us!

We will conclude our Native American unit over these next two weeks. On Monday, information will go home about their special project. It will be do on Wednesday, March 5. These projects will be presented orally to the class. Please refer to the rubric that is attached for guidelines on what we are looking for. This is an exciting project for all. On Thursday, we will celebrate our conclusion with our field trip to The Museum of Natural History at Harvard. Remember, many chaperones are needed.

I am looking forward to seeing all my little smiling faces tomorrow. We will be setting new goals upon return. Students will be working on being a good SPORT over the coming weeks. You may notice "token" slips coming home as incentives. Being a good SPORT is to:

Speak appropriately to all

Prepared and ready to learn

On task at all times

Respect myself and others

Try my best at all times

 

I just want to remind you that report cards will be released a week later originally planned due to the snow days.  February can get by us fast enough....bring on spring!



Got Grit

As I write my mom has just entered surgery for knee replacement. Her second one in seven years. Though 87, she is fiesty and smart, wanting to get back to her bridge playing which at times is up to four times a week. My mom has "grit". She perserveres in all she does.Mom has taught me a lot about family and hanging tough. I admire her spunk, determination and love for family. Please keep her in your thoughts as she heals and rehabs. She went into surgery with a virus but they didn't seem concerned even though she had a fever of 101. Mom is a fighter so I hope in a few weeks she'll be on her way to gaining her independence back and showing that "grit" in her rehabilitation.

This week will be busy with spelling assessments, math assessments, an assembly, 100th Day and our Valentine's Day celebration. Please remember we can not have any food brought into school for celebrations so I am asking that each family send in a special treat for your own child. I will send home a special bag with a note later in the week.

Please keep studying those first and second grade trick words. I will assess Tuesday, Thursday and Friday. Math assessments for Chapter 7 will be done Thursday or Friday depending on the math groups. Chapter was on metric measure (meters and centimeters). Please encourage your child to show some "grit" as they practice and work on these skills. Math especially can be challeging for some. With perserverence and good effort, kiddos can make big strides in their accomplishments.

I hope everyone has a wonderful vacation. It's a great time to rest, relax and spend time with family and friends. If you are traveling, I wish you safe and fun filled adventures.

Enjoy these pictures of Dan Crips, our Native American visitor from last week. I hope you heard great things about him. Information will be coming home soon about our field trip to the Museum at Harvard University on Thursday, March 6. We will need lots of chaperones so clear your calendar.

Keep warm!
Deb Dellovo

A New Year To Grow and Learn

Hello Families and Happy Martin Luther King Weekend. My husband and I are enjoying a quiet weekend at home in our cozy little apartment. We finalized our plans on our new townhouse and can now relax for awhile. The relaxation will be short lived as my mom is having knee replacement in about a month or so and will be needing some care. That remains to be seen and only time will tell what will happen, how long she'll be in rehab and what she'll need for assistance at home. So, having said all that we'll take it one day at a time.

Your children might have told you that we started our unit on Native Americans. It's so exciting and engaging for them. Each second grade teacher is responsible for a region of North America and every Wednesday the students will rotate to the other classes to learn about; climate, terrain, animals, resources, tools, weapons, food, clothing and shelter of each of the regions. So far, our lessons have covered terrain, climate and animals. On January 28, we will have a visit from a real Native American, Dan Krips. On March 6, we will visit the Peabody Museum at Harvard. Clear your calendars because chaperones will be needed. It is a wonderful museum if you've never been there.

We are also finishing up our mapping unit with a final assesment which was given on Friday. The children learned a lot about the continents, major mountain ranges, oceans and rivers of the world.
Their Mapping portfolios should be coming home in the next week or so.

In Fundation's, we are working on the R-controlled syllable type (R controlled vowels), Unit 8 of the Fundation program. We will work on this unit this week and next having Dictation on the 28. If you are looking for words to study, practice spelling trick words that went home last week and all Fundation's worksheets that go home over the next two weeks. Fundation's words that we'll cover are: part, cart, bird, her, port, burn, turn and words that are in these word families. Also words such as; partner, carport, sport, hurt, manner, partnership. Refer to Edline for more information.

Second grade will be finishing up Chpater 4 of InFocus Math. We will all be reviewing bar models and assessing the chapter on Friday. It was a very difficult chapter but all the students should "GRIT" and stayed with it.

Finally, there has been much talk about the anticipated safety drill called ALICE. I will begin to talk about this drill with the kiddos on Tuesday. Some students have already heard information from parents and who are beginning to discuss it with their children. There have been a public meetings about the new safety procedures. Mrs. Giles will have an assembly on Wednesday morning, January 29 the day of the safety drill ALICE. All classrooms in the school will be at the assembly and will have had a preview of the procedures for their teachers. These new procedures are to be put into place when there is danger or an "intruder" in the building. An "intruder" is someone who is not suppose to be in the building. I will do my best to answer all the questions the children may have. Please know, all the people in the Killam SchoolCommunity, will work to provide a calm, safe and informative drill with all the students and faculty in the building. (The Barrows School had a very safe and successful evacation this week due to high levels of carbon monoxide.) Our school psychologist has put together a photo story to assist us with an appropriate explanation of the ALICE plan. Please take the time to discuss it with your child over the next couple of weeks.

Enjoy the rest of the weekend. Stay warm!
Deb Dellovo